23/10/2020
Interesting Facts about Civil Engineering ( Post by Shubham Chaudhari- B.E. Civil 2020-2021)
1. Ever been to an amazing Water slide? Enjoyed?
If yes, the well we need to thank Civil Engineers for that. They were able to determine the right ratio of water to flume, so you slide instead of get stuck.
2.Ever wondered who could have been the first Civil Engineer?
The first self-proclaimed civil engineer was John Smeaton who constructed the Eddystone Lighthouse.
3. Road roads and so many road. But which one would be the largest?
The longest street in the world is Toronto’s Yonge Street, listed as 1,178 miles (1,896 km) in length — roughly the distance from San Diego, California, to Seattle, Washington.
4. Could trains travel on water? Certainly not but they can under it
The Channel Tunnel is one of the greatest civil engineering projects of the 20th century, has an ultimate design capacity of 600 trains per day each way under the English Channel. Joining the United Kingdom and France
5. It takes a lot of time to construct buildings. Says who?
The Empire State Building was built in just 18 months during the Great Depression and was one of the first to employ the then new fast track construction technique.
6. Civil Engineering is the oldest branch. Well of course
Of all the seven ancient wonders of the world, the Great Pyramid at Giza is the only one that still survives, and this is largely due to civil engineering. While no records exist about the actual methods of construction, the mathematical patterns of the structure and the internal passages suggest advanced planning and engineering.
7. Construction is limited to heights? Well..
The Indian Railways is building the world’s highest railway bridge which is projected to be taller than even the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
It would also be ‘blast proof’ and is being built to withstand earthquakes.
8. When there is will there is a way
When Japanese engineers did not have room to expand the Osaka International Airport due to urban crowding, they sought a more unusual foundation technique. Much like the Palm Islands of Dubai, the engineers built an island, upon which they built one of the world’s longest airports. Totaling an excess of 21,000,000 m3 of dirt was used. The airport constructed on the island is a marvel in itself, taking the shape of a plane wing to withstand typhoon level winds, common to the area.
9. Lots of construction materials are required and that’s a lot of work. Well the Kailash temple, Maharashtra proves it wrong.
The building was carved out of a single rock and is considered one of the most magnificent cave temples because of its sculptural treatment, size, and architectural design. The rock temple was cut in U shape about 50 metres in the back, and about 2, 00,000 tonnes of rock was removed to give shape to it. The archaeologists had calculated that it would have taken more than a hundred years to finish the temple construction. However, in reality it took only 18 years to complete it. Interestingly, modern age engineers find it impossible to finish the same temple using the modern technology in 18 years!
10. Mighty Mightier and Mightiest
The world’s largest dam, as well as largest hydroelectric power plant, stands tall at 185 m. Its name comes from the fact that it floods three rivers, the Qutang, Wu Xia, and Xiling. The hydroelectric plant is built inside the walls of the structure, producing a total of 4.7 billion kWh each year. During construction, builders used 27.2 million cubic metres of concrete. That’s enough concrete to fill 10,200 Olympic sized swimming pools.
11. Divide a nation to bring the world close.
The Panama Canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama in a narrow land bridge between North and South America. Prior, ships had to sail around the tip of South America. It takes about 8 hours to cross the Canal's 50 miles (77km).
The American Society of Civil Engineers has also dubbed the Panama Canal one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World. It's one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.
A system of locks at each end of the Canal lifts ships up 85 feet (26 meters) above sea level to an artificial lake. Ships traverse the artificial lake, as well as a series of improved and artificial channels, and then are lowered again in more locks to sea level at the other side. The locks are 110 feet (33 meters) feet wide and 1000 feet (300 meters) long. About 30-MILLION pounds (1,400,000 kilos) of explosives were used to help clear the land for the canal.
